Court Reverses $95,000 Award To Fau Prof

May 19, 2000|By KARLA SCHUSTER Education Writer

A federal appeals court this week reversed a 1997 decision awarding a Florida Atlantic University professor $95,000 after she accused administrators of retaliation when she complained about a supervisor's advances.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a ruling on Wednesday, found there was insufficient evidence that the university punished FAU assistant business professor Srbana Gupta for complaining about the behavior of Rupert Rhodd, an economics professor at FAU.

In her lawsuit, Gupta said shortly after she joined the FAU faculty in 1994, Rhodd, then her supervisor, made inappropriate, sexually provocative comments and once invited her into his office when he had no shirt on. Gupta accused university officials of juggling her schedule so she had to travel between three different FAU campuses and failing to give her scheduled raises after she complained about Rhodd.

In 1997, a federal jury did not find that Rhodd had violated Gupta's constitutional rights, but did order the Board of Regents, the body that sets policy for the 10 state universities, to pay her $95,000 for failing to respond to her complaint. The appeals court said Gupta did not present enough evidence to prove a direct link between her evaluations from university officials and her complaint against Rhodd.

Gupta and Rhodd still work at FAU's Davie campus. Neither could be reached for comment.